From the USGS - 
the warmer the 
color the greater the 
chance of a major 
event in the next 
fifty years. While we 
disagree with the 
calculations, we 
don't dispute that 
much of Italy (and 
the former 
Yugoslavia to the 
east) ought to be 
very concerned.
			      
      
		  It is tempting to suggest Bendandi had in the mind the triple conjunction of Mercury, 
Venus and Jupiter in Aries. If so, it is something of a mystery [to me] why Rome would be 
the epicenter. As it happens, we have large databases of both earthquakes and planetary 
conjunctions (some people will do anything to stress test a quad core). Perhaps someone 
with considerably more profound astrological insights can suggest a hypothesis linking the 
two. At least we know earthquakes here do not cause conjunctions out there.